Montreal Sports - Montreal Canadiens

And just as quickly as that, poor Ryan White is back in Hamilton. 

After an administrative snafu forced White out of last night’s line-up against the Ottawa Senators, the Canadiens just announced he has been sent back down to the Bulldogs. 

Montreal Sports - Montreal Canadiens

Perhaps the NHL may start an investigation into how many "away" games may be considered right at home for the Montreal Canadiens. Ottawa has always been ripe with support the les bleus, blancs et rouges, and tonight was no different. The fans went nights on every great save made by Halak, and booed the refs loudly when penalties were called against the Habs. Here is my hat trick on the game in which the Canadiens won 4-1:

H is for HOT HALAK

Halak made 45 saves, as he looked great bouncing back from a horrible night in Buffalo where he let in 6 goals. Halak had complained about being rusty after not playing in almost a month, and he certainly showed what he can do with only a few days rest. With the Canadiens playing 17 games in the month of December, they will certainly need Halak to stay sharp.

C is for Captain Cammalleri

It was noted how Mike Cammalleri was the only current roster player who made it a point to shake the hands of every former player during the Canadiens Centennial celebration. Something really seem to light a fire under his ass that night, because Mike now has 5 goals in 3 games for the Habs. Cammalleri is now on pace for over 40 goals in a season for the Canadiens, something the Habs have not seen since Damphousse scored 40 in the 93/94 season.

P is for Playoffs!

Okay, still a long way to go, and while the Canadiens are now 2 points ahead of 9th place Tampa Bay, the Lightning have 2 games in hand. Fact of the matter is, the Habs are doing as well as can be expected when you consider that they lost their best defenseman and arguably their best player in Andrei Markov, and their best forward (at the time) in Brian Gionta. Barring another major injury (all eyes on Spacek right now), I fully expect the Canadiens to be in the playoffs and in the hunt for their 25th Stanley Cup.

Montreal Sports - Montreal Canadiens

As has been usually the case for the Montreal Canadiens this season, a virtual musical chairs is being played with the line-up. 

Merely days after being sent down to Hamilton, Ryan White has been recalled by the Canadiens today. 

With Paul Mara (upper body injury) not accompanying the team to Ottawa, that means that either Tom Pyatt or White will get the call tonight and Marc-André Bergeron will return on defence. 

Please read on for the Habs’ press release.